Rockies INF Ellis stellar in debut with Rockies

“That’s my goal,” Ellis said. “That’s definitely a good team, and it will be fun to compete against them.”

Venturing around the clubhouse Friday, Ellis ran into familiar faces everywhere he turned. He once was teammates in Oakland with closer Huston Street and first baseman Jason Giambi.

Any secrets he can reveal?

“I could give you a lot of dirt on Street, but Jason would probably tell you dirt on himself,” Ellis chuckled.

Ellis had plenty of mixed emotions departing Oakland. But given all the stars who have left town in recent years, he wasn’t completely surprised by the move.

“I kind of figured something was going to happen in Oakland. Somebody asked me yesterday if I expected to get traded, and when you don’t get traded for 10 years, you don’t really expect to get traded, but I kind of anticipated it a little bit,” Ellis said. “It was a tough day. It was sad. You spend all that time with people and it’s tough.

“I wanted to get here as soon as possible and start this new chapter. I was excited when I heard it was Colorado. If I had to leave Oakland, this was one of the spots, if not the spot, that I wanted to go.”